Napoli

Wednesday being our "off" day at the Institute, we went to Naples for the day for some sightseeing. We had bought the tickets a few months ago, after our trip there with a big group on December 9th. If you recall, due to the holiday crowd and the large group, there was only so much we could do that day. So, we decided to try it on our own on a non-holiday. Later this year we have several visits by family members, so we also wanted to know how to get around and what to do with them. Some time after having bought the non-refundable train tickets, we learned that our zone conference was scheduled for the same day, but we decided to go ahead to Naples and attend the conference for the other Rome zone (this Friday).

We left our house at 7:40am to walk 20 minutes to the subway, taking it down to the Termini train station. Our train left on time at 8:48am, and we arrived comfortably early to get on board and find our seats. The train was half empty, and the hour-long ride down was pleasant and on time; we each napped a bit on the way. At top speed, the train hit almost 300km/h (over 180mph) -- as always, click the photo to enlarge.

It was under 50 degrees F and rainy on our 15 minute walk to the subway, and for several days it had been predicted to be cold and rainy all day in Naples. Fortunately, as the date approached, the forecast softened to scattered showers and closer to 60 degrees as the high, which is what we experienced: a bit of light rain in the morning there, but otherwise clear and only slightly chilly. Nice. It was sunny most of the way down on the train, and we saw beautiful snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Our first item of business was to figure out where the subway was and get some tickets. We had done it in December, but then we were just following the group and not paying much attention. It wasn't very difficult to follow the signs, and now we feel very comfortable getting around for future visits. Dee even had the bright idea to buy 16 subway tickets so we're set for round trips for the two visits coming up this summer. We need eight tickets for the four of us each time. Bring it on, family! I also figured out where the train for Pompeii leaves and where to buy those tickets. After four stops, we got off subway Line 1 at Piazza Dante and walked about 10 minutes to what seems to be the center of old town, where our activities were planned for the day. I got to touch the nose of the famous Pulcinella statue.

First we walked down Christmas street, where in December we were caught in the press of people, moving less than 10 feet per minute for an hour and unable to exit. This time we were able to cover the enter thing without any foot traffic in just a few minutes, though it was still raining lightly.  Dee writes: I really like the Italian nativity scenes, and they have some lovely ones there. They set the manger in a typical Italian town of a couple centuries ago, with lots of common people going about their business while Jesus is in the manger in the same scene. It's a beautiful reminder that no matter what we're doing, the Savior is there, and we need to look for him. You can buy an inexpensive background, made of cork wood, to which you add whatever figures you prefer, paying about 2-4 euros per figurine. Dee loves the bagpipers best. Yes, there are bagpipers in Italy! Unfortunately, what we realized is that it would be very expensive (if not impossible) to get one home in one piece. So we looked for a while and then went on.

After that we went to see the statue of Cristo Velato (Veiled Christ), which is an amazing piece of marble depicting Christ after his death covered by a thin veil. They still aren't quite sure how the artist, Giuseppe Martino, made it in 1753, because the cloth of the veil drapes in an incredibly lifelike way. Here's a photo I found on the internet of the single piece of marble:

The guy whose family owns the chapel housing the statue, Raimondo di Sangro, was quite an inventor, and some people believe that he figured out a chemical way to etch the marble to produce the draping effect. He also invented a type of paint, used for the huge scenes on the ceiling, which still maintains its vivid brightness 250 years later! There were a number of other very impressive things, such as a statue of a man  caught in a net, where the net is a single piece of marble but is a 3D actual net! Several workers at the time refused to help polish it because they were sure it would break and they didn't want to get the blame.

There was also in incredible floor mosaic in the form of a labyrinth, where the pieces were not small things fitted together, but each color was one single piece of marble! 

I know that I am using a lot of exclamation points here, but it was that impressive. We had reserved tickets online so as not to have to wait in line for an hour or two, including 5 euros to get audio headsets for the half-hour guided tour; both were great investments.

After that we took some time for lunch at a little place on the main street. Dee had salmon with grilled vegetables, and I had gnocchi. Of course we shared our entrees, which were both gorgeous and delicious.

After lunch, we went looking for the Lepoldo pastry shop, where I had inadvertently stolen a package of cookies in December. When we explained and tried several times to reimburse them, the clerks just looked at us and laughed. So we munched a few sfogliatelle to drown our sorrows. 😋😊 Just down the street were several jewelry stores, where my wife enjoyed window shopping. She found a pair of cameo earrings that she really liked for only 40 euros, so I bought them for her -- I have a long-standing tradition of buying jewelry for her on trips, which works great for both of us. You can see her wearing them here on the train ride home:

At 2pm, we took a 90-minute tour of Napoli Sotteranea (Underground Naples), taking us down to the old tunnels and wells going back to ancient Greek days. 

It was also used as a bomb shelter during WW II. The tour was available in English, French, and Italian. It was a good workout -- up and down about 300 feet, which left us all winded. We went with the English tour, because we figured they would be using a bunch of words that wouldn't be in our Italian vocabulary. That ended up being a mistake. First of all, the English group was about 20 people, versus only half a dozen in Italian. Second, our guide was a very pleasant gal, but she spoke in quiet tone, so it was hard to hear, especially with all the echoes. She also tried to talk over the Italian tour guide in the same cave a few times, which didn't help because the other guide had a much louder voice. Finally -- and this has happened to us a number of times over the years -- her English pronunciation was often bad enough that it could be hard to understand her at all. It's both an issue of cadence and of mispronunciation, not just British vs. American, though that was a part of it. For example, she was trying to say "chamber pots" at one point, but she did it as if they were French: "shambre pos", and she often put the emphasis on the wrong syllable. In retrospect, we would have been much better off taking the Italian tour and asking for a few words to be explained. In any case, the tour could have easily covered the general concept in about 10 minutes -- they stretched it out with too much of the same theme repeated.  We are glad that we took the tour and also glad that we will never do it again.

After that we slowly made our way back to the subway and the train station. We got there plenty early, exhausted after being on our feet most of the day. A few times we stopped at bookstores during the day to look for an Italian vocabulary book, similar to what we use at home for our FHE lessons. No luck -- the few we found weren't very good (a combination of very easy and very hard, not much in the middle), and in general the clerks at the store don't seem to understand what we are asking for. Maybe they don't have the SAT here! 😉 

While we were waiting in the station for our train, we walked around and window shopped a bit. There was a candy store, which had some cherry/raisin things that looked like hard candies for 30 cents each. I had three 20 cent pieces and hate to carry change, so I bought two of them and emptied my pocket. I love cherries. When I put the first one in my mouth, it was chocolate-covered and quickly opened up, pouring out some liquor onto my tongue! I spit it out, but it's a lesson that we occasionally forget: candies, pastry, and ice cream confections here often contain alcohol. I like to say that I never drink alcohol except occasionally while serving as a missionary in Italy!

Everything went smoothly on the trip back, and we walked in our door just after 8pm, very happy to have gone and equally happy to be able to relax at home.